WEST VIRGINIA COALITION AGAINST APARTHEID

Contents: UNDERSTANDING SOUTH AFRICA IN A TIME OF CHANGE • THE WEST VIRGINIA COALITION AGAINST APARTHEID ... • WHAT IS Apartheid? • MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION • What You CAN DO • A Partial List of Sponsoring Organizations and Individual Members • The brochure explains the economic, political, and social system of apartheid based on the separation of the races developed since the Afrikaner's Nationalist Party came to power in 1948. Africans are denied virtually every human right encompassed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; grand apartheid deprives them of the right to vote, buy or sell land, live or work where they choose, live together with their families, or travel freely. The brochure reports escalating arrests, bannings, news censorship, and deaths in South Africa, as the people of South Africa are struggling for their freedom. Support has come from young white South Africans, almost 50 percent of whom refused conscription into the South African army in early 1985. The West Virginian Coalition Against Apartheid represents church, labor, community, women's, and student groups who believe that apartheid is immoral and must be abolished. The agenda for action includes public education and dialogue on South Africa and Namibia. The Coalition calls on state government to divest from holdings in U.S. companies doing business in South Africa (approximately 3.5% of West Virginia's investments); addresses corporate responsibility toward employees, unions, and communities of those businesses which operate in South Africa and in West Virginia; calls for a federal ban on the U.S. imports of South African coal; urges the U.S. government to lead the international community in withdrawing support from the South African government; and speaks to the issue of racism that connects Americans with the events in South Africa. The brochure quotes Nelson Mandela. A partial list of sponsoring organizations and individual members includes West Virginia Federation of Labor AFL-CIO; American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) WV; Senator Tod J. Kaufman; Clergy and Laity Concerned-Wheeling Chapter; United Mine Workers of America/COMPAC; Rev. Paul M. Stadelman; National Organization for Women (NOW)-WV Chapter; Howard and Mildred Miller; Larry L. Rowe; Board of Church and Society, United Methodist Church of WV; Kanawha Valley Freeze Campaign; Chibueze and Thelma Njaka; Vietnam Veterans of America-Chapter 38; Charleston NAACP; Mercer County Peace Coalition; Rev. Donald M. and Cynthia G. Steele; Central America Human Rights Coalition; Rev. Nathaniel and Dorothy Turner-Lacy; Dr. Robert Hall; St. John's Episcopal Church; American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)-Middle Atlantic Region; Rev. Sandy W. Drayton; West Virginia Nuclear Freeze Campaign; Bob Taft; Simpson Memorial United Methodist Church; Jan Courts; Alderson Peace and Justice Coalition; Greg Denier; Wesley Foundation of Fairmont State College; Maggie Beller; Carol Sharlip; and West Virginia Education Association (WVEA).